Cat Trick
by MelonPalooza
Summary: Sissel is now alone in the world, until he finds a man in the park that uses a strange stick to grow some plants.


Sissel, to be put in simple terms, was freaking out. It has been several hours since Kamila's ghost had had her conversation with Sissel. And although the old woman would have liked to stay longer to converse with her cat, she had family to reunite with on the other side. Sissel did not have time to mourn. What he needed however, was a way to notify someone about Kamila's death.

The kitten tried to tell the neighbors, but many ignored him. Although he was usually a very quiet cat and the fact that him yowling loudly should have triggered a bad vibe, everyone was minding their own business. Others threw their slippers and newspapers at him to shut him up. So Sissel then made it his mission to find a way to alert someone about the body. It wasn't Kamila anymore, it's just a husk now.

So Sissel left the flat, making sure the door was locked after he exited, the black cat started to scout for someone reliable to notify. Sissel never learned how to read, he didn't have to, being a cat and all. But Sissel knew the large gates that guarded the big trees was a park. And parks had people.

And so Sissel was walking through the park that had people in it aimlessly. Before he knew it, he began to reminiscent. Numbers were not a large factor in Sissel's life, so he did not exactly know how many it has been since their family moved. Detective Jowd was relocated to a new branch, and so his wife and daughter followed. Lynn visited occasionally. And with Lynn came Missile. The dog was obedient on the plane, but hyper just as the wheels landed. Missile always gave Sissel sloppy kisses. A gesture that Sissel knows that means well, but he would rather live through life dry and happy. Even Yomiel came once - after he got out, but he went home quietly muttering something about the weather and his hair.

Sissel's nose twitched. Automatically, an instinct to hide overtook him as he dashed into a nearby bush. An adult human male was walking through the park, looking at particularly nothing and walking to particularly nowhere.

The man stopped in his tracks when he came across a group of plants that was covered from the sun by a greedy giant tree. Looking around him to assure that no one was looking - sans for Sissel, who was cleverly hidden - before he took out a stick of some sort.

Under his breath, the man whispered some made up word with _herb _mixed in it somewhere, and to Sissel's surprise, the flowers that were underneath the tree started to elongate and bloom. The cat's eyes widened. He seems like a good enough fellow.

* * *

Harry Potter, who was a wizard, also enjoyed the conveniences of muggle life. As aesthetically pleasing a feather quill and inkwell may seem, a ballpoint pen will do just about the same. As enchanting a wizard photo is to look at, it can't really beat a full length motion picture. As fun as releasing owls and receiving letters goes, instant messaging beats the cake by far. And as fast as floo traveling - and apparating - is, one occasionally misses the scenery of just walking through a park.

So there Harry was, strolling through the park nearest to his home that he shared with his family. On the rare occasion that it was actually _sunny _outside, Harry wanted to go out - despite the bewilderment from his wife and children. After he had introduced them to the "magic" of modern technology, there was no way sunshine and grass could sedate them any longer. James made that very clear in the letters he sent home during his first year at Hogwarts. There was no wi-fi. Harry had jokingly written to his son that if there was a need for a password, it would probabky be H0gwarts or something equally ridiculous. Fortunately, even though there was still a present lack of working tech and gadget at the school, his younger children were raring to go to the learning establishment to hone their magical abilities.

Seeing some withering plants that were dying in the shade, Harry couldn't but feel pity for the poor things. So he took out his wand to aid them in their regrowth. He tucked his wand back immiediately to make sure he wasn't going to wave it around obnoxiously again, a result of him forgetting he still had it out. Once was good enough for him. The Head Auror was lost in thought when he heard a faint mew coming from a nearby bush. Usually, the aging wizard would have simply ignored it - stray cats weren't really an anomaly - but this one attracted his attention.

A small black kitten emerges from a nearby bush, eyeing Harry. Around its neck was a red bandana or scarf of sorts - suggesting it had an owner. The cloth was tattered and worn, looking as if it were years - decades old. A peculiar choice of fabric for a tiny kitten. The cat walked slowly towards Harry, and Harry in return stood still. The feline then started to rub against his legs, purring its content. Much to his surprise, the cat took a bit of his trousers in its tiny mouth and started to tug at it.

"Hey there," Harry said, frowning slightly. He lowered himself to the ground - squatting, if we're being specific, and attempted to pry the animal off of him.

"Mew," was all the cat said as it hopped a step back before Harry could even graze a whisker. The kitten sat down as it stared up at the wizard. It cocked its head and Harry found himself doing the same. It was as if it was waiting for Harry to do something.

The cat then turned to walk a few more steps before repositioning itself in the same position, waiting again.

"Do you want me to follow you?" Harry asked. The cat gave a small mew in reply. This cat really understood the human language. Was it even a real cat?

"Are you an Animagus?" the wizard inquired. The feline simply stared at him. Harry could have sworn he saw confusion in its golden eyes. Harry stood up and started to walk towards it. The black cat waited for him to come closer before returning to its trek to whatever destination it wanted Harry to follow it to.

A thump averted their attention, and a scream of a woman alerted the duo to run towards the source. Harry cautiously readied his wand in his jacket sleeve, in case he needed to use it. There were other voices now, angry ones.

Some time between the meeting of the cat to the scream of the woman, there was a change in the weather and sky. There were now grey clouds covering the sun. _Typical_, Harry thought briefly.

Before they reached the troubled woman and the other voices, Harry's new companion suddenly went limp and fell down. The woman screamed again, but Harry's attention was focused on the feline before him. Horrified, he knelt down to seek a rhyme or reason to why or how, or possibly what has just happened. Even though only moments before the kitten was running as fast as its little legs can carry it, the cat was no longer moving. The cat wasn't breathing, nor was its heart beating. The cat was just...dead.

* * *

For the first time in his life since he became Head Auror, Harry hoped that he had made a mistake. Harry pressed his ear against the kitten's tiny chest again. The rapid heartbeats that should have belonged to a cat was not there. It was still. But another noise caught the Auror's attention. There was a swerve of a car and a crash that came from the direction of the woman's scream. Automatically, Harry carried the cat with him to the scene. For some reason, he didn't want to leave the body behind.

Then there they were, in a small cobbled clearing that was the center of the park, grasping onto the edges of the fountain until her knuckles were white, stood a woman with the most horror stricken look on her face. Not just five feet away from her was a car that was crashed into nearby forestry. From eyeing the trajectory of the tire skids, the car was heading straight for her, but at the last second it miraculously changed targets instead.

There was no driver in the vehicle itself, not even a passenger. The only sign or movement near the car were the large clouds of smoke and the rustling leaves and grass caused by a nearby wind.

It was at that moment that the kitten in Harry's hands stirred back to life. It looked up at him with its eyes, staring curiously at his confused face. The black furball leapt out of his hands, landing gracefully on its paws.

"Help!" the woman clutching the fountain screamed. Harry ran towards her immediately. On closer inspection, it wasn't that she decided to loiter in front of a fountain on her free will. It was the fact that she was tied down to it. The ornate fence surrounding the fountain had given whoever tied the woman down to the fountain ample space to do so. The woman started to cry sobs of thanks to Harry as he removed her bindings. He was trying to calm her down when he was interrupted by the very impatient cat.

"Mew," it said with an angry tone its voice, flicking its tail in the direction the two had came from.

"Excuse me, I'm in the middle of something here," Harry said incredulously. The sniffling woman gave a sound of confusion before he returned to quieting her whimpering. Knowing that he would follow it anyways, the cat left the scene. Knowing that he was curious as much as the cat thought he was, Harry Potter gave one last piece of advice to the muggle woman as he ran off, "Call the police!"

It took only a few long strides for Harry to catch up to the kitten, it was still walking in the same demeanor as it did before, as if there wasn't just just an attempted murder in broad daylight.

"That was rude," Harry commented, referring to leaving the woman alone. The cat made no remark. They walked in silence for a few more seconds before Harry attempted to converse with the kitten that obviously understood the English language, "Was that you? You know, the reason why the car swerved out of the way?"

This time, the kitten's left ear twitched. Harry smiled. Nailed it. The human attempted to ask his feline companion of how the creature was able to do such a thing, but there was only silence in reply to his questioning. And so Harry too became silent. But not before saying something along the lines of, "Neat trick."

* * *

It was only a few minutes later that the two reached an apartment building. The ground doors were unlocked, and the cat slipped its way in without difficulty. Harry waved at the conspicuous security camera planted in a corner of the ceiling. He wasn't doing anything illegal or magic, so might as well give some stranger a hello.

Harry soon found himself in front of a door. He pointed at it with a raised eyebrow as he stared at the cat in confirmation, who in turn simply nodded. When did cats ever nod and why would that be considered a simple task for a cat? They bobbed their head, sure, but they never nodded all knowingly like a wise owl. Owls probably don't nod either.

After a few knocks and a doorbell ring later, followed by a few seconds of awkward silences, there was no answer.

"Are they in?" Harry asked. Another nod. The raven tried the doorknob, and it was locked as expected. Before Harry could ask for a sign of some kind, the kitten went limp - again. But this time, Harry couldn't react to the cat's once again lifeless body as a click was heard from the other side of the door. Turning the knob again, the door was now unlocked, much to Harry's surprise.

"Mew," the kitten said, shocking Harry slightly.

"Merlin, don't do that," he hissed. The cat tilted its head. It never had heard that name used in such a way before. With the door opened slightly ajar, the space was big enough for the cat to squeeze through. It started walking in the entrance hallway like it owned the place. Opening the door farther so that a human could fit through, Harry started to cautiously follow the cat.

There were a few pictures hung on the walls and displayed on shelves, bookcases, side tables, practically every viable flat surface in the abode. It often depicted a family of three, with a cat - Harry automatically assumed it was the one that had the strange powers. He then saw a familiar trend in the portraits, because although the humans in the photos aged, the kitten remained the same. Around a few corners the wizard found the cat pawing against a door.

When Harry opened the creaky door, he saw a figure resting on the bed. There was no stench, and there were no bugs, but Harry immediately realized why the cat had brought him here.

"Is this your owner?" he asked. In reply the kitten leapt onto the bed and curled itself near the lifeless body. As Harry approached closer to the corpse, he was able to make out more features of the cat's deceased master. She was an aged lady for one, her white hair reflecting her years. And from the looks of it, she had died peacefully in her sleep. Harry touched her skin softly, only to realize that it was cold. "I guess that this was one life you couldn't save, huh?"

The cat's head shot up at that, and narrowed its eyes at Harry. _Not that you know of_, it seem to say. The man raised both his hands defensively, as if he was trying to calm down a jittery horse. He then fished out his cell phone to call the police to handle the situation. It looked like the family was muggle, afterall. Soon, the uniformed men arrived, along with an ambulance in tow. Harry had to be questioned as the body was taken away, but there wasn't anything that he couldn't answer truthfully. Well, except...

"How did you get into the building, Mr. Potter?" the officer asked.

Harry shrugged, "The door was opened. The cat got out, after all." The policeman nodded in agreement. As Harry left, the kitten followed him. Seeing the black furred creature from the corner of his eyes, he did not notice that it was holding something in its mouth. Recognizing it as a photo, Harry carefully took the picture from the kitten. It licked his hands gingerly ashe removed the photo. Harry assured the black cat that he would return it.

It was a colored photo, depicting two women, one in their late teens to early twenties, the other in her mid thirties or so. They were smiling broadly at the camera. At their feet was a small kitten and an elderly pomeranian dog. Looking closer at it, Harry realized that it was originally a black and white photo, but recolored professionally. The older of the two women had vibrantly red hair, even more vibrant than the Weasley's. The younger female had on a hat, making it difficult to see her hair. But the features of the woman were familiar.

"Is this her?" Harry asked, pointing to the hat wearing female. The kitten closed its eyes and nodded. Flipping the photo over, Harry found the date and the names of those in the photograph. _Kamila, Lynn, Sissel, Missile_. "...Sissel?"

Sissel mewed its reply. "So you're a lady cat?" Harry tried, but Sissel's glare gave him his answer. "Okay, tommy-boy, no need to overreact."

The apparently immortal black cat was now an orphan, and so Harry had to give a slight pondering on what to do. Children loved pets, right? With the agreement of Sissel, the wizard and the cat went back to the Potter household. Entering the door, Harry proudly exclaimed that he had a surprise for the family, and that it says meow. Rapid footsteps were heard as a shocked wife and happy youths ran away from their tablets, phones, and video games to greet their new family member.


End file.
